St. Paul police are investigating after being alerted to a photo they were told depicts a male officer dressed as a female Muslim Target employee. The photo was posted on Feb. 3, 2013. This is a screengrab provided by Mukhtar Ibrahim. The photo was taken from the Instagram account of michaelhart1997, which is now private.

The St. Paul police officer seen dressed as a female Muslim Target store employee in a widely circulated and criticized Internet photo issued an apology Tuesday, Feb. 5, saying the image was “never meant to become public.”

Robert Buth said the photo, which shows him wearing a Target name tag and red head and body covering that some Muslim women wear, was taken at a private Halloween party on personal time.

“I apologize to anyone who may have been offended by the recently publicized photo,” Buth said in the statement. He said he regrets that the image “may have been viewed to be insensitive to the Muslim community.”

Buth, a 13-year veteran assigned the department’s K-9 unit, also worked off-duty at the Target store at 1300 W. University Ave. in St. Paul.

Critics of the photo, which entered the spotlight after a Washington, D.C.-based journalist brought it to the attention of the police department via Twitter over the weekend, said the store has many Muslim customers and employees.

“I have enjoyed working with all of our diverse communities and look forward to working to repairing any damage which may have been caused,” Buth said in the statement.

Immediate reaction to the apology was mixed. Some Twitter users wrote it didn’t go far enough and called for Buth’s firing. Others said they wanted more discussion about why the photo was offensive. Still others said the controversy was overly political and overblown.

Lori Saroya, executive director for the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Tuesday her organization welcomes the apology.

She said the group sent a letter to St. Paul Police asking the department to provide diversity training for Buth “to ensure his interactions with Muslim women in the course of his duties are professional and not based on prejudice and stereotypes.”

The organization offers training that covers a basic introduction to Islamic practices, including traditional dress. Saroya said many corporations and some smaller law enforcement agencies already use the training, which will be available to Minneapolis and St. Paul police starting this summer..

She said the photo was particularly inappropriate for a police officer who likely interacts with Muslim women dressed in such a fashion on a regular basis.

“I think it just shows his ignorance, not understanding what it really means,” she said. If it was meant as a joke, she said, “it’s not funny.”

The department said it already asks people from a variety of ethnic groups and communities to teach officers about their cultures and traditions during the police academy and yearly in-service training.

St. Paul Police Chief Thomas Smith also issued a statement Tuesday, saying he believes Buth’s apology is sincere and that the officer “will he will work to correct any negative perceptions brought about by the image.”

The apology “signifies an understanding that as a Saint Paul police officer, we are responsible for our actions both while on-duty and off-duty,” Smith added in the statement.

Maki Haberfield, a law enforcement expert at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, said that’s a standard officers have to live with, even in their free time.

“If you are there to serve and protect, you’re certainly not there to offend,” said Haberfield, chair of the college’s department of law, police science and criminal justice administration.

A police department investigation opened Monday is ongoing. Buth remains on duty.

Buth’s record includes an oral reprimand in 2000 for a preventable accident and a one-day suspension in 2003 for using excessive force. He also receive a medal of merit in 2005 and has more than a dozen other thank-you letters and commendations noted in his personnel file.

Mara Gottfried has been a Pioneer Press reporter since 2001, mostly covering public safety. Gottfried lived in St. Paul as a young child and returned to the Twin Cities after graduating from the University of Maryland. You can reach her at 651-228-5262.

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